Brassiere



J. GLICK BRASSIERE Aug. 13, 1968 2 Sheet-Sheg; 1

Filed Feb. 23, 1966 INVENTOR.

Jack Glick ATTORNEY Aug. 13, 1968 I 3,396,729

BRASSIERE Filed Feb. 28, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

Jack Glick a BM,

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,396,729 BRASSIERE Jack Glick, Fort Lee, N..l., assignor to Secret Charm Bra, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Feb. 28, 1966, Ser. No. 530,714 4 Claims. (Cl. 128-489) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A type of brassiere that takes care of several grade sizes and more than one cup size because of the stretchability of the fabric used and has an interior cup support in addition to an inner cup support to better lift and support the breasts and accommodate the changes in the size of the breast.

This invention relates to brassieres and particularly to a type of brassiere that would take care of several sizes because of the stretchability of the fabric used and the type of construction of the garment.

Heretofore, brassieres have been made for specific brassiere sizes with specific cup sizes, so that a retailer would have to carry many different sizes in stock.

It is the object of this invention to provide a stretch able brassiere of a construction that would take care of at least three grade sizes and more than one cup size.

A further object of the invention is to provide a stretchable brassiere which has an interior cup support in addition to an inner cup support to better lift and support the breasts and accommodate to the changes in the size of the breast.

Further objects of the invention will be hereinafter described.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a brassiere;

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the brassiere shown in FIG. 1 with the back portions cut away.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken through line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a rear view of a modification of the brassiere shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3;

FIG. 5 is a rear view of the brassiere shown in FIG. 4 with the back portions cut away; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken through line 66 of FIG. 4.

Referring to the drawings, FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, numeral 10 shows a brassiere comprising brassiere cups or breast pockets 11, a center separation 12, back members 13 and side gussets 14. The brassiere cup 11 has an upper portion 15 and a lower portion 16. The upper portion 15 is preferably made of a light weight double ply nonstretchable material. However, such upper portion can also be made of a material that is vertically stretchable, but such stretch should be less than the stretch of the material of the lower portion 16. The lower portion 16 of the brassiere cup 11 is made of a knitted material which is stretchable both vertically and laterally; however, it has greater stretchability vertically than laterally. Such stretchable knitted material is preferably of an order of 200% stretchable fabric vertically and 150% horizontally. However, depending upon the size of the brassiere and brassiere cup, such material can be stretchable horizontally from a minimum of 75% to a maximum of 150% and vertically from a minimum of 80% to a maxium of 100%. It will thus be seen that the vertical stretch should always be greater than the horizontal or lateral stretch of the material.

Attached by stitching along the bottom central arcuate edge of the brassiere cup 11 is a multi-ply non-stretchable support member 18 which extends upwardly in height somewhat less than one-half the height of the 3,396,729 Patented Aug. 13, 1968 brassiere cup 11. This support member 18 is free along all other edges and is enclosed within a double ply Lastex additional support member 17 which also extends to a height less than half the height of the brassiere cup 11 but slightly higher than support member 18. Member 17 is folded back upon itself so that there is no stitched edge at its upper fold line to create any pressure upon the breast. Support member 17 is stitched along the entire lower arcuate edge and partially at the upper side edges of the brassiere cup and is stretchable horizontally but not vertically. In order to prevent any lateral shifting of the inner support member 18 relative to each other, the two support members 17 and 18 are preferably stitched together at their central portions by stitching 22.

If desired, support member 17 may be made of a single piece of material instead of folding it back upon itself and in such construction it will overlie to non-stretchable support member 18 instead of encasing it. In either construction, support member 17 is non-stretchable vertically and stretchable horizontally, preferably of the order of about stretch of the material. Both the support members 17 and 18 aid in supporting the breasts.

The center separation member 12, side gussets 14 and back members 13 are all made of material stretchable both horizontally and vertically, the vertical stretch being less than the horizontal stretch.

The usual back extensions 13 have a series of vertically spaced eyes 19 to cooperate with hooks 20 at the opposite ends of the back member 13.

Adjustable shoulder straps 21 are attached to the central portion of the brassiere cup 11 and back members 13, as is well known in the art.

In the modification shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, the parts are practically the same as those shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 and are referred to by the same names or terms and bear the same numbers except that such numbers are primed. The construction of the brassiere of the modification is practically the same as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and '3, except that the multi-ply, non-stretchable support member 18' is positioned between the Lastex additional support member 17' and the lower portion 16' of the brassiere cup 11.

Attached along the bottom arcuate edge of the brassiere cup 11 is the multi-ply non-stretchable support member 18' which is free along all other edges and extends upwardly in height to a line slightly less than one-half of the brassiere cup. Also attached along the bottom arcuate line of the brassiere cup by stitching is a double ply Lastex additional support member 17' which extends to a point less than the height of the support member 18' and is folded back upon itself so that there is no stitched edge at the top to create any pressure upon the breast. The support member 17' may be made of a single piece of material instead of the piece of material folded upon itself. However, it is non-stretchable vertically and stretchable horizontally, preferably of the order of about 80% stretch of the material. Both support member 18' and Lastex member 17 aid in supporting the breasts.

Six different sizes of brassieres above described for the brassiere of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 and the modification shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 because of the construction and great percentage of stretchability above mentioned, can each take care of at least three normal brassiere sizes and several brassiere cup sizes as follows:

(1) 32A, 34A and 32B. (2) 36A, 34B and 32C. (3) 36B, 34C and 32D. (4) 38B, 36C and 34D. (5) 40B, 38C and 36D. (6) 42B, 40C and 38D.

It will be noted that the above six brassiere sizes will take care of eighteen diiferent sizes of brassieres and breast pockets.

With this type of construction, it is obvious that retailers need carry only six (6) garment sizes in stock to take care of eighteen sizes of brassieres and breast pockets, thus reducing the size of their inventory with less of an investment and less overhead because there would be less detail work to take care of stock. Furthermore, less space would be devoted to accommodate six sizes than eighteen sizes.

While the brassiere cups of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 and the modification shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 have no arcuate wires beneath the brassiere cups, in certain instances and for certain sizes, it may be desirable to use either round or flat wires in the lower arcuate portions of the cups.

It will also be obvious that if a woman purchased one of the garments for her particular size and her dimensions became greater both circumferentially and breast size, the same brassiere would accommodate the larger dimension without loss of comfort.

Certain power nets may be used which come within the scope of the vertical and horizontal stretchability of the fabric hereinbefore mentioned. Various changes and modifications may be made in the details of construction without departing from the general spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A brassiere comprising a pair of breast pockets, center, side and back members, cooperating hooks and eyes at the terminals of said back members, each of said breast pockets comprising an upper and lower outer portion, a fan-like inner supporting member and a stretchable supporting member, said lower portion made of a two-way stretch material having greater stretchability vertically than laterally, said fan-like inner supporting member made of non-stretchable material, said inner supporting member attached at a lower edge to the bottom central portion of said breast pocket with all its other edges being free, said stretchable supporting member attached along the lower arcuate edge of said breast pocket, said inner supporting member being stretchable horizontally for supporting the breast; said side and back members made of two-waystretch material of greater stretch horizontally than vertically.

2. A brassiere in accordance with claim 1 in which the fan-like inner supporting member is encased within said stretchable supporting member.

3. A brassiere comprising a pair of breast pockets, center, side and back members, each of said breast pockets having an upper portion, an intermediate fanlike supporting member, a lower portion, and an additional support member, said lower portion made of twoway stretchable fabric having greater stretchability vertically than laterally, said fan-like supporting member made of non-stretchable fabric and attached to the lower portion of said breast cup and extending upwardly from the bottom of said cup to slightly less than half the height of said cup and being free along all its other edges, an additional support member made of fabric being nonstretchable vertically and stretchable horizontally, said additional support member overlying said intermediate support member and extending less in height than said intermediate support member, said additional support member attached along the lower arcuate portion of said cup and free at its upper edge, said side and back members made of two-way stretchable fabric having greater stretchability horizontally than vertically, cooperating adjustable fastening means at the ends of said back members for fastening said brassiere upon a wearer, and adjustable shoulder straps attached to the upper portion of said cups and said back members.

4. A brassiere in accordance with claim 3 wherein said additional support member is doubled back upon itself.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,915,067 12/ 1959 Bracht 128-476 3,046,990 7/196'2 Dozier 128-485 3,173,421 3/1965 Steiner 128-489 ADELE M. EAGER, Primary Examiner. 

